--- Kat ---
Steel lead them out of the castle and back into the gardens. "So, lunch is coming up soon and we can use that as a chance to look around a bit until we get to a place for us all to eat. Then you’ve got the rest of the afternoon free. I can either show you around a bit more, or you can select sothing to kill ti. Once the sun goes down I’m going to want you on guard duty but it’s not too strict. The thefts have never been before nine pm so as long as you make it into position before that you should be fine. What sort of food are you all interested in?"
Kat shrugged, "I just like to try unique stuff I’m not very picky... though Lily does love fish."
"I’m more of a salad kind of girl myself," admitted Hedera. "I can eat at if I have to but I’ve never been a fan of the texture."
Steel nodded, "I see, I see... well accommodating both sides of that request might be a bit hard. We don’t have access to a lot of fish anymore. We do have so farms for them... but that’s just it. We have SO farms for them. The whole enterprise is run by the one family that runs the only restaurant in town that sells fish."
Kat frowned, "If you only have a few fish farms... does that an there’s no water for the city?"
Steel shook his head. "No, we do have an underground river that runs through the city. We have a number of enchantnts that block living things from using it though. We also don’t really want to raise fish inside it because... well that’s our clean water source. We can also get a good amount from the nearly endless amounts of snow. We’re not at risk of running out, we just don’t have a good setup for fish."
"Ah... fair enough then," conceded Kat.
"Yup. We have a few other bits and pieces of seafood and a slightly wider variety of places that sell them... but yeah that one family really cornered the fish market," admitted Steel.
"How?" asked Kat.
Steel took in a breath to explain. "Well... the fish issue was one we didn’t actually think about when we closed up. We had plenty of other seafood farms, but not really any fish ones. In the end, the family that took over the market? That had a decently big fish tank and so variety. It wasn’t a farming operation, the old man just liked having fish to watch.
"Once it beca clear we had no real fish, he started to farm them... and might have also managed to smuggle in a few more breeding pairs from outside. Back when we first shut everything down it certainly wasn’t instant and more than a few things snuck through the cracks. Which was fine back then. Things were just getting started really. Too many leaks to plug effectively. We did mange it, but it was the work of a generation so... we just let a lot of stuff go, or so I was told anyway."
[Well, we don’t have to get fish straight away if their selection is limited. It would be nice, but if we’ve got so variety in the salad dishes I can leave with that.]
"Well, we don’t have to rush to the fish place," said Kat now she was prompted as such. "Lily’s apparently fine with salad this ti. As long as we do eventually get so fish."
"Can cats even eat salads?" asked Steel with so worry in his voice.
[Normal cats can’t. Or well... it’s not going to kill them if they have a bit of lettuce but it’s really bad for their diet if they don’t have at. Luckily, I’m not actually a cat! Though... maybe I should double check with Nira about that? I feel like if I had any serious diet restrictions she would’ve ntioned it...]
*Yeah I agree. That’s definitely the sort of thing she’d ntion.* "It’s a good thing Lily isn’t technically a cat then," said Kat with a smile.
Steel shrugged, "As long as you’re sure about that. I’ve known so weird people who don’t feed their pets properly."
"Ha," laughed Kat. "Trust , if Lily didn’t want to, or couldn’t eat sothing she’d avoid it. As adorable as she seems right now, her magic is quite strong."
Kat held Lily up to face Steel who glanced over. Lily gave her cutest possible ow, in response. Steel was glancing between the two of them. Perhaps with raised eyebrows hidden in his helt... all the while Hedera was rolling her eyes in the background. It was amusing how easy it was to just... let people think Lily was a more normal familiar.
"Right..." Steel said, clearly unconvinced. So, just to prove they were intentionally being silly, Lily summoned two large claws of shadow from her back which then rged into a face full of teeth before it twisted and vanished in on itself. "Ah... ok that’s... that’s real magic? Or close enough not to matter..."
Kat nodded. It was indeed real magic though confirming that out loud wasn’t sothing she wanted to do. "Err... right," mumbled Steel. "So, with that all sorted I suppose... what sort of salads do you prefer Hedera? We have a few different places that specialise in it... because we have a great supply of fruits and vegetables so people ended up getting creative with it. Though... I’m not really sure what Kat would consider exotic so I can’t much there with nothing to compare it to."
Hedera humd for a bit. "I’ll admit I’m not that partial to fruit actually. Even that is a bit too sweet for a lot of the ti. I’d prefer a vegetable based salad with a good dressing to go with it if I’m allowed to be extra picky. I don’t mind citrus nearly as much as other fruits so that would be fine, but I’d still prefer more of a vegetable dish."
Steel nodded, "Alright that’s not too hard to accommodate. If that’s what you’re after... I can think of two places famous for their dressing, another famous for their vegetables and a final one that has good citrus dishes, but is more of a café and a lot of those citrus dishes ARE desserts so might want to skip that one,"
"Probably," agreed Hedera. "I wouldn’t mind it if we were just having a snack but for a full lunch? Best give it a miss,"
"That’s fine, I mostly suggested it because I have heard good things though I haven’t eaten there personally. It’s actually rather new," admitted Steel.
Kat made a note to ask about how that worked, though Hedera seed to still have questions about the food on offer and that was a more imdiate issue. "So, I guess the question is, do the ones famous for their dressing have good vegetable offerings? And what’s the main difference between that and the vegetable based restaurant?"
"The vegetable one is called ’Cast’s Garden’ and most of the food served there is actually from Cast’s garden. They have their own family plot of land that’s been worked for quite a while that they get their produce from. It... isn’t really a salad place so much as it is a vegetable based restaurant. There’s so at on the nu, and plenty of different dishes. It’s more of an ensemble type of deal where you order six or seven small things to eat all made with different ingredients. It’s fancy but I make enough money to pay those prices for us all and I’ve got plenty of savings so I don’t mind," admitted Steel.
"I can already imagine the cost," groaned Hedera. "Are you sure?"
Steel nodded. "Yeah I’ve eaten there before so I know what I’m getting into."
"Alright... what about the other two?" asked Hedera.
"Of the other two, one is considered slightly more upscale then the other. One is ’Winter’s Banquet’ and it’s all about the theming there. Lovely atmosphere and usual has so live music. The food though, is honestly just alright. Not bad, and it looks great but that’s not really while you going there. Certainly not bad, and you’ll have a good ti but well," Steel trailed off with a shrug. The other three nodded, understanding what he ant.
"The last place is more of a hoy place called ’The Bunch’ and they just make simple, but great tasting dishes in larger then you’d expect quantities. They are especially known for their seasonings which are all made in-house and from my understanding, the place actually makes more money from selling the seasoning mixes and sauces rather then running the restaurant," explained Steel.
"Well, if you don’t mind Steel, I think I’d like to head to The Bunch. I feel like a good al and if we’re ant to be up all night and on watch I’d like to go for sothing on the larger side," explained Hedera.
"Of course, it’s this way..." agreed Steel as he started to angle them off to the left. It took about fifty tres but they got to a path that took them off to a different section of the garden, and presumably an exit closer to The Bunch.
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